CHOPIN IN PARIS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE ROMANTIC COMPOSER [Hardcover]

Tad Szulc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 1998

Chopin in Paris introduces the most important musical and literary figures of Fryderyk Chopin's day in a glittering story of the Romantic era. During Chopin's eighteen years in Paris, lasting nearly half his short life, he shone at the center of the immensely talented artists who were defining their time -- Hugo, Balzac, Stendhal, Delacroix, Liszt, Berlioz, and, of course, George Sand, a rebel feminist writer who became Chopin's lover and protector.

Tad Szulc, the author of Fidel and Pope John Paul II, approaches his subject with imagination and insight, drawing extensively on diaries, memoirs, correspondence, and the composer's own journal, portions of which appear here for the first time in English. He uses contemporary sources to chronicle Chopin's meteoric rise in his native Poland, an ascent that had brought him to play before the reigning Russian grand duke at the age of eight. He left his homeland when he was eighteen, just before Warsaw's patriotic uprising was crushed by the tsar's armies.

Carrying the memories of Poland and its folk music that would later surface in his polonaises and mazurkas, Chopin traveled to Vienna. There he established his reputation in the most demanding city of Europe. But Chopin soon left for Paris, where his extraordinary creative powers would come to fruition amid the revolutions roiling much of Europe. He quickly gained fame and a circle of powerful friends and acquaintances ranging from Rothschild, the banker, to Karl Marx.

Distinguished by his fastidious dress and the wracking cough that would cut short his life, Chopin spent his days composing and giving piano lessons to a select group of students. His evenings were spent at the keyboard, playing for his friends. It was at one of these Chopin gatherings that he met George Sand, nine years his senior. Through their long and often stormy relationship, Chopin enjoyed his richest creative period. As she wrote dozens of novels, he composed furiously -- both were compulsive creators. After their affair unraveled, Chopin became the protégé of Jane Stirling, a wealthy Scotswoman, who paraded him in his final year across England and Scotland to play for the aristocracy and even Queen Victoria. In 1849, at the age of thirty-nine, Chopin succumbed to the tuberculosis that had plagued him from childhood.

Chopin in Paris is an illuminating biography of a tragic figure who was one of the most important composers of all time. Szulc brings to life the complex, contradictory genius whose works will live forever. It is compelling reading about an exciting epoch of European history, culture, and music -- and about one of the great love dramas of the nineteenth century.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Frederic Chopin was in many ways a contradictory figure: a passionately patriotic Pole, he left his country for good at the age of 21; frail and almost sexless, he was famous for a seven-year love affair with the novelist George Sand; shy, lonely, and retiring, he was inevitably surrounded by friends and admirers. In Chopin in Paris, biographer Tad Szulc has produced a dishy account of Chopin's most creative and tempestuous period, his 18-year sojourn in France. It's also a portrait of a unique time, when musical and artistic luminaries such as Chopin, Balzac, Hugo, Liszt, Berlioz, Delacroix, and Schumann ran in the same heady Parisian circles.

What it's not is a detailed study of Chopin's music. The author of critically praised books about Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II, Szulc sets out in search of Chopin the man, "the human dimension" he finds missing in other, more musically oriented biographies. What he finds is not always attractive; tortured through much of his life by physical and psychological illness, Chopin emerges as an often fussy, distant, manipulative man, as well as something of a snob. It's a tribute to his genius as a composer, Szulc writes, that he was befriended by some of the greatest minds of his age, including the larger-than-life figure of George Sand: "Fryderyk Chopin gave the world a treasure in music. The world gave Chopin a treasure in human beings." Commendably, Szulc refrains from editorializing about the composer's life and habits, in particular Chopin's break with Sand. Instead, he allows his wealth of primary sources--including diaries, memoirs, letters, and Chopin's own brief journal--to speak for themselves.

From Library Journal

Political reporter and biographer Szulc (Fidel, LJ 1/87) based this biography of Chopin's adult years on correspondence and diaries in Polish and French as well as published sources in several languages. Liberally supplied quotations add liveliness to the portrait, but because of gaps in the record (many letters were lost or destroyed) and because Chopin often shielded himself from intimacy with others, emphasis is on Chopin's public persona and his "times." Szulc concentrates on Chopin's relationships with people, leaving discussions of his music to other writers. He relies heavily on earlier biographies for assessment of Chopin's character but makes some speculative judgments of his own, particularly regarding Chopin's sexuality. A supplement to George Marek and Maria Gordon-Smith's Chopin (LJ 9/15/78), with useful information, journalistically presented for a general audience.?Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Lib., College Park
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition, First Printing. edition (April 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684824582
• ISBN-13: 978-0684824581
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of numerous Chopin biograpies that I have read., February 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: CHOPIN IN PARIS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE ROMANTIC COMPOSER (Hardcover)

After reading most of the Chopin biographies, I wasn't sure that there was more I could learn. Tad Szulc offers a more personal and intimate view of this enigmatic master than any others. This is because he brings into play a great deal of material from Chopin's contempories. So much more of the relationship between George Sand is available with a much more sympathetic portrayal of Chopin's third and last great paramour. We also learn about Chopin's personal views on Beethoven, other musicians and artists, on piano pedagogy, based on discussions with his friend and the artist, Delacroix. Chopin's relationship with the Marquis de Custine, who above all others seemed able to understand the inner soul of Chopin and his music. The fact that the marquis was homosexual and perhaps adds to the empathy of one man for the expression of another does not go unnoticed though the author cautions against any inferences that Chopin may have had an intimate affair with another man. Chopin, the sensitive thinker amidst the rich turbulence of the times is portrayed through letters, correspondences and recalled conversations. Chopin is probably the most personal of all the great masters, yet he was aloof from the artistic excesses of his times, played Bach's well Tempered daily, meticulous in his composing habits and yet, a little appreciated fact emphasized by Tad Szulc that Chopin was an innovator and creator of new and important musical forms. Certainly all popular music and jazz harmonies of the 20th century are direcly derived and based on Chopin. If you love Chopin the musician, his music and fascinated with the rich artistic and political times of the early 19th century, you will treasure this book. Michael Tierra

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It should have been better, August 30, 2006

By 

laguna_greg "mr. opinionated" (Guess where in CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CHOPIN IN PARIS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE ROMANTIC COMPOSER (Hardcover)

I'm just reaching the middle of Chopin in Paris right now, and I already have a list of complaints that have become irritating. The book follows Chopin's life from childhood to his death, focusing primarily on the period of his self-selected Parisian exile. Other reviewers have noted the special place this moment holds in European cultural history and, if this is of interest to readers, they should peruse The Parisian World of Frederick Chopin by William Atwood. That work is an exhaustive socio-politico-cultural history of the period, interesting and colorfully written. While it only touches on Chopin peripherally, it explains the why's and how's of Paris as certainly the musical and probably the cultural center of Europe at that time.

Mr. Szulc's book does have its strong points. A recently written, authoritative account of Chopin's life is certainly overdue, and Szulc attempts this. He depends largely on textual sources, obviously, and much of what he says appears at first glance to be documented. For example, Szulc does treat George Sand very evenhandedly, letting the evidence speak for itself. Many, many writers have painted Sand as a depraved, blood-sucking harpy who robbed Chopin of his life, and Szulc resists the temptation. He relies heavily on the Andre Maurois biography of Sand and the correspondence in hand, and this presents a more fair and balanced picture of their relationship. On the plus side, Szulc manages to make it sound very dishy, heightening the interest.

Many things detract from the effort, however, firstly his use of purple ink. Szulc undercuts his own credibility with a turgid, wordy style and the use of hyperbole to describe every event. He often sounds like a partisan trying to convince the reader that Chopin's accomplishments are so great that they prove the superiority of Polish (or French, or I don't know whose) culture, and this is completely unnecessary and very distracting. Chopin did have his detractors early on in the 20th century, but today everyone accepts that Chopin was a genius, his works are masterpieces, and his influence can be felt and heard everywhere subsequently. Chopin carved out an international reputation for his playing alone on the basis of 30 public concerts he gave in his adult life, blowing almost all his peers out of the water in a couple of swift strokes and making Liszt his only serious competitor on the stage. I know of several concert artists alive today who do 30 concerts in 2-months' time as a part of their regular season, so by itself this would make Chopin's accomplishment extraordinary. All of the adjectival puffery just makes it harder to take seriously.

Szulc makes Chopin's sexuality an issue, and he handles the subject most unfortunately. To start with, Szulc bends over backwards to argue that Chopin wasn't gay in a fashion that borders on the offensive. He takes some early letters written to a male childhood friend and tries very lamely to explain that Chopin didn't really mean the epithets he larded the text with (can we say "latency period?"). Szulc is obviously uncomfortable by the profusion of physical affection described there, yet he doesn't bother to explain it in terms of the differing standards of propriety and convention of the day. Enough research has been done regarding this subject that these sentiments appear innocuous and entirely lacking in sexual intent when taken in context. Unless of course, Chopin had a secret, closeted life. The sexuality of many great cultural figures has been argued forensically for a while now, with devastating starkness in the case of Tchaikovsky and spuriousness in that of Schubert. If people are going to bring it up, then the subject now deserves a serious, scholarly treatment. Szulc avoids this, doing his readers a disservice by giving them an embarrassed shiver in its place when touching on any aspect of Chopin's love life. While it is doubtful that Chopin was even bisexual, myths and legends persist. Szulc does not explore the matter in any meaningful way that would lay the question to rest.

Then there is Chopin's mental state. Chopin had a number of personality quirks, especially his hesitancy, his aristocratic manner and certain prejudices prevalent in his letters, and Szulc brings these to the fore. He also spends a good deal of the page in a tiresome and unconvincing effort to analyze the soi-disant `link' between mental instability and creativity, quoting a couple of doctors and psychological experts. Was Chopin really schizoid or bipolar, as Szulc asserts? It's very, very hard to say without any clinical evidence (and there isn't any), yet Szulc takes it as a foregone conclusion that Chopin was, mostly because of his genius, and he concludes that other major artistic figures of the day were also, again because of their genius. I thought people had given that theory up along with the Oedipus Complex long ago! In his defense, Chopin had a diagnosis of consumption early in his life, and he spent the rest of it in indifferent or failing health because of his disease. I can't imagine anyone waking up in the morning in a good mood if they were facing that every single day of their lives. Additionally, the pressures of celebrity certainly heightened Chopin's characterological flaws, a reaction we see today in much-less-talented Hollywood celebrities unable to cope with their fame. Is this to say that Chopin' creativity pushed him to the "edge of madness"? I don't think so, and Szulc just seems to be guessing.

Lastly, Szulc's practice of citing sources is confusing and spotty. The book does have a bibliography, but Szulc dispenses with end- or footnotes in the text. He defends this practice in the preface, saying that the references are cited directly in the text and notes are therefore unnecessary. But I've been looking in the bibliography for two days now for a journal article he quoted as a medical reference, and I can't find it there.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. He doesn't talk about the music, and this is just a shame. Chopin was a leading exponent in the use of chromatic harmony and the evolution, transmogrification really, of formal rhythmic structures from the classical sonata of Haydn, Mozart and even Beethoven, into the very free yet harmonically complex forms that came about later in the 19th century. It is this use of chromatic harmony and coloring, and no other, that makes Chopin's music and that of his contemporaneous peers groundbreaking and as highly influentual as it turned out to be. It is not too much to say that, thanks to Chopin and his contemporaries, Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg became possible. But we don't get that. Instead we are treated to an overblown and even lurid description of the subjective emotional content of the works, without any explanation of "why". Too bad, because an accessible discussion of the musical style would be of great benefit to anyone interested in music. I am reminded of how other non-musicians such as Will and Ariel Durant very succesfully present this subject in interesting yet non-technical terms, so there's no reason why anyone else can't.

Other reviewers have pointed out that there isn't a good, authoritative biography of Chopin available, and I'm sad to say the current effort falls short on several counts. I can't help thinking that this book would have been much better if it had been written by Maynard Solomon.

38 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars fatuous statements mar a fascinating life-story, March 28, 2000

By 

Julian Grant (London, Beijing, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chopin In Paris: The Life And Times Of The Romantic Composer (Paperback)

To concentrate on Chopin's time in Paris, and to try and trace his connections and acquaintances in that extraordinarily fertile artistic stamping ground, is a very good idea and focus for a biography of Chopin's short life. It is a fascinating milieu and it says a great deal for the facts uncovered here that the story can survive a verbose and gushing written style, and some factual carelessness. One is confronted time and time again by statements such as these: 'The year 1834 was a good one for Chopin whose life, like the chord spread of an arpeggio, went alternatively from the bottom upwards or from the top downwards'. Or the final sentence in the whole book, a summing-up: 'Frederick Chopin gave the world a treasure in music. The world gave Chopin a treasure in human beings'. This is typicalof the windy flow that so impedes the sense in this book. Don't editors read this stuff before it gets into print?

Factually, the book falls down particularly badly when dealing with matters musical; for example we are told: 'Hector Berlioz made Romanticism's breakthrough in 1825 when he conducted a performance of his requiem at Saint-Roch Church. No performance of such magnitude and venturesome boldness had ever been presented before'. A muddle here - Berlioz's Requiem was written in 1837 and first performed at 'Les Invalides', and yes, did poleaxe the musical world. There was a Berlioz performance at St.Roch Church in 1825 - that was the Mass, an immature and not particularly large scale work (recently rediscovered and performed by John Eliot Gardiner) which Berlioz himself discarded after one performance, and which had no widespread impact. Also, the idea that Romanticism suddenly took everyone by surprise is fatuous. We are told Meyerbeer's opera 'Robert the Devil' deals with 'religious mythology'. It doesn't - it's a gothic penny-dreadful with skating nuns. These examples are indicative of a careless approach to the facts and make one question the primary research done in this book.

Chopin was obviously a complex, contradictory character - he comes across as self-obsessed, cold, intellectually rather narrow and rather snobbish (I would have much rather had dinner with Georges Sand),a self professed ardent Polish patriot who never went back to Poland, or showed much desire to do so - there is meat here for a good probing biography. Instead this book is capsized by pseudo-Hollywood puffery and rank journalese.